It is well known that an alloy in its molten state can be rapidly cooled or quenched to obtain an amorphous solid in various forms, such as thin strip, filament or powder/particle. An amorphous alloy thin-strip or powder can be prepared through various processes, such as a single-roll process, a twin-roll process, an in-rotating liquid spinning process and an atomization process, which can provide a high quenching rate. Heretofore, a number of Fe, Ti, Co, Zr, Ni, Pd or Cu-base amorphous alloys have been developed, and their specific properties such as excellent mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance have been clarified.
In regard to Cu-base amorphous alloys related to the present invention, researches have been mainly made on binary alloys such as Cu—Ti and Cu—Zr, or ternary alloys such as Cu—Ni—Zr, Cu—Ag—RE, Cu—Ni—P, Cu—Ag—P, Cu—Mg—RE and Cu—(Zr, RE, Ti)—(Al, Mg, Ni) (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. H07-41918, H07-173556, H09-59750 and H11-61289; Mater., Trans. JIM, Vol. 37, No. 7 (1996) 1343-1349; Sic. Rep. RITU. A28 (1980) 255-265; Mater. Sic. Eng. A181-182 (1994) 1383-1392; Mater. Trans. JIM, Vol. 38, No. 4 (1997) 359-362).
While the above Cu-base amorphous alloys have been researched based largely on thin-strip samples prepared through the aforementioned single-roll/liquid quenching process, research and development on Cu-base bulk amorphous alloys for practical use, or Cu-base bulk amorphous alloys excellent in glass-forming ability, has made few advance.